AFN vice president Olamide George, who heads a faction of the athletics body, talks about the crisis rocking Nigerian athletics and more in this interview with ’TOSIN OLUWALOWO
What is the genesis of the crisis in the Athletics Federation of Nigeria?
The crisis in the AFN started with allegations raised against Ibrahim Gusau over misappropriation and misapplication of funds as the president, victimisation and intimidation of athletes, unilaterally taking decisions without the board, non-payment of athletes and coaches for international and local competitions, abuse of power, high-handedness and many more.
When was the first time the board made such allegations against him?
Before now, the ministry had intervened a week before the former minister (Solomon Dalung) left. There was a meeting called by the Permanent Secretary (sports ministry) Olusade Adesola and the NOC (Nigeria Committee Committee) president Habu Gumel and majority of the board members were in attendance. We came up with a resolution that we all signed, because we suspended him, but they appealed to us that he has promised to change and he signed an agreement. As I speak with you, Gusau declined the agreement, and reverted to his initial character. Gusau directed the former general secretary to issue a letter to the board members inviting us for a congress. We raised an eyebrow with the new secretary who was assigned to the federation. He observed this, and quickly wrote another letter, signed by the president, not the secretary because of our agitations and yearnings in the board, saying there will be board meeting by 8pm in Awka. Some of us asked him that in line with our code of governance, section 10 sub-section 3, all meetings and businesses of a national sports federation shall be held within the premises of the national sports secretariat, unless as otherwise decided by the board. And line with the World Athletics constitution, Gusau goofed. On the board meeting as proposed in the letter signed by him that there would be a meeting in Awka, he could not form a quorum for the meeting. Then where did they get the agenda for the congress?
There were representatives from 29 state associations in the Awka congress…
(Cuts in) Can a suspended president preside over a congress? let’s get it right from that angle. If the answer is no, who drew the agenda for the congress? What happens to the congress? I am not even talking about the legality of the congress, because majority of the people in the congress were not chairmen and secretaries of their states. People have been writing letters to us in the federation that they were hired. Look at the South West for example, Lagos, Osun and Ekiti were not there.
What about Ondo State?
I am the chairman of the athletics association in Ondo State, I am surprised that somebody impersonated Ondo State. I have not spent four years in office in line with the rules put in place by the NOC and the sports ministry. So, if I’m the chairman in Ondo State, I contested in the zone and won in my zone. And the zonal moved me to the national level to contest against Mary Onyali, winning the election with 47 to three votes, so I should be the one to represent Ondo State (at the congress).
The congress in Awka had in attendance representatives from the Confederation of African Athletics and the NOC. Is that not an endorsement of Gusau’s faction by both bodies?
Let me make it clear to you, Lamine Faty (secretary general of the CAA) had been scheduled for an inspection of the High-Performance Centre in the University of Port Harcourt. He never knew what was happening with the federation at the time he got to Nigeria; Gusau’s suspension had not been put in place. So, they had the opportunity to interact with him. About four hours after the suspension, they conveyed Faty down to Awka. The man was strategic enough, he never granted any press statement, he did not utter a word throughout their illegal congress. He is also a smart man, he read in-between the lines. Let us wait and see what will happen after now.
At the Awka congress, the AFN declared an autonomy from the sports ministry of what effect is this?
As I have said, it is an illegal congress. Let me also tell you that there are over 30 federations supervised by the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development. I am not the spokesman for the government, but I do things in line with the rules. I was sworn in by the former sports minister, I took an oath of office as the vice president before I became the acting president today. Who conducted the election? Who supervised our election? All of us that contested from the zonal to the national levels got letters from the governments of our various states and institutions. In the board of the AFN, there are ex-officio members that are government nominees. So, how can you stand alone? Let me also talk about the issue of the secretary of the federation, section 8, sub-section 7.1 states that, ‘the secretary general shall be responsible for the administration of the AFN under the authority of the president.’ Sub-section 7.2 of the same section also states, ‘the terms and conditions of the employment shall be decided by the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development.’ Let me also correct a notion, by saying that the grants we get from the government are from the budget passed by the National Assembly, so, how can you stand alone?
You visited the Permanent Secretary immediately after your faction’s board meeting, where Gusau was suspended. Is that not a pointer that you are being backed by government, which could result in a ban from WA like it happened in Gabon?
On the Gabon issue, board members were sacked by the government and replaced with new ones, that is pure government interference. The issue of Nigeria is different. The Nigerian government, the sports ministry never interfered in our federation. Did they sack any board member? Even the process that led to (Sunday) Adeleye’s recall as the Technical Director, was as a result of the letter written and signed by majority of the athletes for his recall. We are lawmakers, we must do things in line with the rules of the game. The Gabon issue cannot happen in Nigeria, we were voted in, we are in charge, and we have also told the ministry to stay clear because it is our internal affair. All we have to do is to pass our resolutions and copy the ministry because we get our grants from the ministry. The board meeting, we held, was done in the AFN secretariat, not in the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development.
